Lindisfarne Study Week – Day 3

May.6,2014

Having got to bed early last night, I expected a good night’s sleep. But I woke up at 12.30am and spent an hour reading before finally falling asleep again to rise at 5.30. I wanted to make my way to the Anglican worship service at 7.30am, followed by a communion service at 8.00am.

One would think that finding the building would be easy in this small village, but I managed to wander a bit before entering late. I was received graciously by three people. The leader happened to be Ray Simpson (see yesterday’s posting) and the reader Kate Tristram, both of whom are featured in our schedule for the week on Tuesday. The communion service had one more participant, a man who I later met and found was from Montreal, and finished yesterday St Cuthbert’s Walk.

I was struck by the holiness and hope of two of the Scripture readings, which hearkens back to my 1 May posting on Anniversaries. The first was from Exodus where Moses and the community of Israel are gathered as a holy people to the holy mountain where they worship a holy God. I was struck, personally, by the person I am, more often profane than holy, but full of hope and made holy by Jesus’ act of rescue and reconciliation remembered and recounted in Romans 6.4,8,9 in a responsive reading:

‘Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that Christ has been raised from death; he will never die again. We have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that we may walk with him in newness of life.’

The afternoon was spent meeting John and Olive Drane (Fuller adjunct professors and course organisers; Scotland), Pat (York, England), Christine (Ontario, Canada), Michelle and Daryl (Christchurch, New Zealand), Mark and Maggie (Seattle, Washington), Colin (Sandpoint, Idaho), and James (Fairfax, Virginia). We listened to each other’s stories about why we were here.

The day ended with Anna and Andrew Raine of the Northumbria Community bringing a concert of mostly Celtic flavoured music (well, Anna mostly). Photos on facebook at www.facebook.com/timothy.c.aho.